After a successful debut season for the Italian-Irish duo Faraldo Racing-Derek McGee, the Covid-19 pandemic halted the action for almost one entire year. In spite of this, the relationship between “the Mullingar Missile” and Francesco Faraldo remained strong, leading now to some interesting news.
The biggest one is, without any doubt, the brand new FR450GP, which McGee will ride for the first time at the Armoy Road Races
at the end of July.
The small Faraldo Racing business, based in Douglas (Isle of Man), built this bike starting from a FTR Moto3: the frame has been modified in order to fit a 450 Yamaha engine in place of the old 250 Honda; Ohlins suspensions and OZ Racing wheels are the same of the FTR M313 ridden by McGee in 2019; the FR450GP mounts a Brembo braking system in place of the Nissin one; EVR slipper clutch, handcrafted exhaust and standard engine – for the moment.
Francesco focused on some aspects in particular, like building a pressurized airbox and a wiring system, modifying the Starlane DaVinci dashboard, the sensors for the data logger and the quickshifter.
McGee’s help in developing the bike will be very precious for sure. Francesco himself, though, will ride the bike on the small Jurby circuit in the north of the Isle of Man, trying to carry on the string of success achieved in 2020. With no road races, in fact, last year Faraldo rode his own Moto3 in the Manx Championship in Jurby, scoring two third places in the first two races and then winning all the races for the rest of the season, conquering the championship.
At the Armoy Road Races, the “Mullingar Missile” Derek McGee will ride the brand new FR450GP in the Lightweight Supersport class, this first road race followed by the Aberdare Park Road Races in Wales.
Derek won’t be the only Faraldo Racing rider during this 2021 season: he will be joined by fellow Irishman Eoin O’Siochru in Armoy and by Sam Grief for the Aberdare Park Road Races.
Both O’Siochru and Grief will get some miles under their belt, respectively in view of a full Irish Nationals season for Eoin and the Manx Grand Prix for Sam.
The news for Faraldo Racing, though, could not finish here: budget permitting, there could be a very interesting surprise at the Scarborough Gold Cup…
